Worthy Words

The desire to be accepted by others is a common, if not universal one. Do you know anyone who doesn’t seek to be accepted? I don’t think I do. Growing up, I felt that I had to perform in order to be accepted. When I was good at something it seemed that others would pay attention—that they would like and accept me. Experience quickly taught me that good performance equaled acceptance while poor performance often meant some kind of rejection. So, driven by the desire to be accepted, I worked to achieve. Still, I was nagged by the suspicion that whatever I did would not be enough. Unfortunately, I also learned this same lesson in church and in a variety of ways. For example, as a kid, I was part of our church’s Bible Drill Team. Every Wednesday night, we would learn the books of the Bible and on Sunday evening we would compete against each other. If we found the most Bible verses, we’d get a gold star next to our name on our class wall. Another star was added next to our name on the...

I was told, by a football coach, a long time ago that adversity introduces a man to himself. When things are toughest, you find out who you really are, and what you most need to change. Many people are willing to give to others when there's money to spare. But when there's hardly enough to go around, you learn just how generous you're really willing to be. Nearly everyone is charming and upbeat when things are going their way. But how you treat others on your worst days tells you more about who you really are. When you face adversity, you get a good look at you. More often than not, you see something that could use a little touch-up. Look at the adversity you're facing today — or look back on a past episode — and ask yourself: What does this experience teach me about me? How can I better myself through this situation? Paul said in Romans 5:4-5 that suffering teaches perseverance and perseverance builds character. So, don't waste a single struggle. In the mid...

Moses said to the Lord, “Why are you treating me, your servant, so harshly? Have mercy on me! What did I do to deserve the burden of all these people?”— Num 11:11 NLT Have you ever experienced this attitude expressed by Moses? Have times of trouble put a load on your faith to the point that every fiber of your being is ready to collapse? Are you thinking God is going over board and treating you unjustly? Well take courage for indeed our heavenly Father sends us frequent problems to test our faith. If our faith is going have value, if it’s worth anything, it will stand testing. Gold doesn’t panic in the fire because it will become pure, and a diamond has no dread of inspection because the true jewel fears no amount of testing. Your faith is a pitiful faith if it can only trust God when friends are true, or your body is healthy, and your business profitable. True faith holds-on by the Lord's faithfulness when friends are gone, when the body is sick, when spirits are depressed, ...

We planted four oak trees in the front of the church fifteen years ago. Didn’t think they would be this large this soon. Some say it takes twenty five years for this type of tree to make shade. They have grown each year to become a mighty shade against the heat of our western exposure to the sun. Warren Buffet said, "Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." We are worshiping this Sunday because a handful of people sacrificed years ago…decades ago, to get a fledgling idea off the ground. Olive Place aka Ambassador Baptist Church purchased the land on November 20, 1952. We should take a minute to say “thank-you” for those who paid the price to make our current ministry possible. (This also applies to where you worship or work— someone planted and watered)   Now consider this question: Who will be sitting in the shade of your hard work twenty years from now? Or more to the point: Will there be shade to sit in? It depends on yo...

Have you heard the story about the lady who purchased a small package of cookies at an airport before her flight? When she got to her terminal gate she took a seat while waiting for her departure and began to read a newspaper. During that time she gradually became aware of a noise coming from the seat next to her. From behind her paper, she was stunned to see a man helping himself to her cookies. Not wanting to make a scene, but wanting the man to know she noticed him, she reached down and took a cookie for herself. A few moments went by, and she heard more rustling. She looked down to see the man taking another cookie. So, she reached down and took another cookie as well. Finally, she watched the man take the last cookie, break it in half and push the other half over to her. He ate the half-cookie, got up and left. The woman was furious! Later, on the plane, the woman opened her handbag and was both shocked and embarrassed to find her package of unopened cookies. Has something like ...

Did you hear the story about the elderly blind woman who was being moved to a nursing home? Upon arrival, she was escorted to her new living quarters. When she entered the room she told her attendant energetically, "I love it!" The attendant questioned the blind woman, "How can you say you love it, when you've never been in it before — and you can't see what it looks like?" The woman spoke up, "Seeing the room doesn't have anything to do with it. Happiness is my choice. I have decided to love my room. Every morning, I have a choice on whether I focus on what I don't like about my life or what I do like about it. I'm choosing right now to love the new room where I'm going to live." Let’s face it, life has its share of trials and everyone will face situations that are less than desirable. Yet, so much about the quality of our lives is determined not by the situation itself, but rather how we respond to it. Honestly, I don't kn...

It’s been twelve weeks since we began the long overdue remodel of our front restrooms. With the project near complete, except for a few minor but important details, I made a final to-do list. The list consisted of eighteen small projects to complete within the larger scope of this restroom / parlor restoration. The finish line was in sight. At the end of the week six remain. Honestly these six were the hardest of the final eighteen. Why do I always leave the hard things until the end? I guess because I didn’t want to do them yet. Well, “yet” has arrived! In your work there are probably a few little things that you don't want to do: items that should be done, but don't have to be done — at least not yet. Legendary football coach Tom Landry said, "The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don't want to do, in order to achieve what they've always wanted to be." It's also said that successful people become successful by doing the little...